Seth C. Rasmussen

Background

About Seth C. Rasmussen

As a faculty member of both the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and the Materials and Nanotechnology Program, my research efforts are split between the areas of Materials Chemistry and the History of Chemistry. In the area of materials chemistry, efforts are focused on the design and synthesis of conjugated materials, with the specific goals of elucidating deeper structure-function relationships in these materials. Our group is perhaps best known for the production of low band gap (<1.5 eV) materials, with reported band gaps as low as 0.45 eV. Via collaborations, we also pursue the application of our materials in devices such as photovoltaics (solar cells), NIR photodetectors, and organic light emitting diodes. In the area of chemical history, efforts are focused on the history of materials (particularly glass and organic polymers/plastics) and chemical technology in antiquity, as well as the application of history to chemical education.